Michigan State basketball welcomed in the Florida Atlantic Owls to the Breslin Center on Saturday afternoon. In the matchup, it was a dominating performance from the Spartans, who led by double digits for the whole second half.
The win marked the 10th win of the season for Michigan State, who is now heading into the holiday break with a solid 10-2 record.
Following the win, there are five things Spartan fans can take away:
1. Coen Carr is a bona fide star
Not only does Coen Carr produce highlight after highlight when he steps onto the floor, he is turning himself into an all-conference caliber player. Carr has been able to operate in the half court offense with ease, and now, that jump shot is looking better and better.
2. Jeremy Fears is coming around
Yesterday’s game is the tailormade performance that the Spartans need from Fears as their point guard. He was confident, and finished with a formidable 13 points and 8 assists.
If Fears is playing with that confidence and efficiency, the Spartans are going to be in really good hands.
3. More Zapala and Kohler, less Cooper
People knocked Tom Izzo for his acquisition of Szymon Zapala, but the Polish grad student has been a quality addition. Add that to the new found confidence and level Jaxon Kohler is playing at, and the Spartans need to be giving 30-to-35 minutes to those two, and only allowing Carson Cooper to play 5-10 minutes a night. This year has not been good or promising for Cooper.
4. Tre Holloman slumping
Following the trip to Maui, Tre Holloman looked like he had arrived on the scene for the Spartans, but the last four games back in the Midwest have been far from that. Holloman has struggled, and while MSU can get away with it right now, it is something that deserves recognition.
5. This MSU team has swagger
This team just shows game after game that it has the swagger and grit that Tom Izzo teams have historically had. This is something that went away for a couple of years, but perhaps some addition by subtraction has brought MSU back to it’s roots.
This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Five takeaways from Michigan State basketball’s win over FAU
